Matthew Singer

Laughs have been a touch thin on the ground at the cinema so far this year – the only corpsing allowed during awards season was by the pope in Conclave – but prepare your facial muscles because the big lols are coming. The new trailer for Naked Gun, showcasing Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr, teases a proper studio comedy – the first in ages – and the pairing of Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in bromance-gone-wrong comedy Friendship looks likely to give our funny bones a good whack. Of course, laughter is the best medicine – apart from actual medicine – and there’s already been a few movies and streaming shows with real healing power, from a classic Bridget Jones outing to a blast of Minecraft excess. If you’re looking for a good laugh, we prescribe one of the following. RECOMMENDED: 🎥 The best movies of 2025 (so far)🔥 The best TV and streaming shows of 2025📺 The 100 greatest ever TV shows you need to binge

We’re living in prudish times. Cinematic sex has become an ongoing point of debate on social media – and according to the internet commentariat, sex in movies, for the most part, is bad. It’s no wonder, really, considering that movies themselves have, over the last two decades, taken a turn for the chaste.  Back in the ’80s and ’90s, though, you couldn’t throw an ice pick in the general direction of a movie theater without stabbing Michael Douglas’s bare ass. For a relatively brief moment of time, erotic thrillers – films intertwining sex and violence into a deliciously lurid, adults-only cocktail – ruled the multiplex. Sure, they were often problematic, and almost always trashy. But the onscreen sexlessness of the past 20 years has left us nostalgic for the simple, sleazy pleasures of the erotic thriller era. And we’re not the only ones, as hot-and-bothered movies like Challengers, Love Lies Bleeding and the meme-launching Babygirl were among the most buzzed-about films of 2024. So we decided to revisit (and rank) 35 of the all-time best. Many remain difficult to justify in this time of sexual puritanism – but that might be the exact reason we love them so much.  Recommended: 🍆 The 101 best sex scenes in movies😬 The 100 best thriller movies of all-time😍 The 100 best romantic films of all-time 🕵️ 40 murder mystery movies to test your sleuthing skills to the max🔥 The 100 best movies of all-time

The real world getting you down? Want to get away? Film is a powerful tool for escaping mundane reality, and no genre can transport you to a different place better than fantasy. Want to walk with elves and orcs? Learn some spells? Slay dragons? Or just get stuck in a time loop, repeating the same day over and over until you discover the true meaning of love? A great fantasy film won’t just show you a different universe – it will take you there and plop you down right in the thick of the action. Once considered the realm of geeks playing Dungeons & Dragons in their parents’ basements, fantasy movies are now big business, thanks to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, Game of Thrones and, of course, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But for the purposes of this list, we’re not limiting the definition of ‘fantasy’ to swords-and-dwarves epics and superhero flicks. You’ll find plenty of those, sure. But you’ll also find movies of a more surreal bent, and some that reimagine our own planet as a place where magic, mystery and adventure is hiding in plain sight. Recommended: 🦸🏿 50 amazing comic-book movies🛸 The 100 best sci-fi movies of all time👹 The 50 best monster movies ever made👾 The 50 best ’80s movies, ranked

‘Isn’t every animated movie family-friendly?’ you might be asking. Oh, definitely not. Truth is, it’s pretty rare to find a cartoon that’ll both entertain the kids and keep parents from getting antsy. But these 50 animated wonders manage that broad appeal. Some are obvious, from Golden Age Disney classics to Pixar tearjerkers, enchanting stop-motion adventures and ridiculous comedies, but there might be a few you haven’t already seen a million times yet. Take a scroll, and get ready for a triumphant movie night the whole house will enjoy. Recommended: 👪 The best family movies of all-time to stream✍ The 100 best animated movies of all-time👶 The best movies for toddlers🐭 The 50 best Disney movies for family night

No movie genre is more misunderstood than romantic comedy. Frequently derided and dismissed as ‘chick flicks’, romcoms are, in truth, more broadly relatable than any other category of film. Who hasn’t been in love, in one form or another? And honestly, what’s funnier than the things humans do while under love’s spell? But the best romantic comedies don’t have to be straight-ahead farces to qualify – although, to be fair, many of them are. Some are sophisticated, drilling deep into the complexities of interpersonal relationships. Others are dark and cynical, because, well, love often sucks. Others are light and airy, or borderline fantastical. Love contains multitudes, and so do romantic comedies, and we considered it all when putting together this list of the best romcoms of all time.  Written by Dave Calhoun, Cath Clarke, Tom Huddleston, Kate Lloyd, Andy Kryza, Phil de Semlyen, Alim Kheraj & Matthew Singer Recommended: 😍 The 100 best romantic films of all-time🤣 The 100 best comedy movies😳 The 101 best sex scenes of all time🔥 The 100 best movies of all-time

War is hell, but hell makes for great drama. Military conflict is at the centre of some of the greatest films ever made, and no wonder – few other man-made nightmares serve as such natural backdrops for suspense, horror and heroism. But the best war movies go deeper than mere cinematic bravado. They ask the important questions about the nature of war itself. Why do we fight? What happens when it’s over? And ultimately, is it ever worth it?  In considering the greatest war films ever made, we paid special attention to those movies that view combat from multiple angles. As a result, this list runs the gamut, from depictions of very real conflicts, including both world wars, Vietnam and the so-called ‘war on terror’, to fictional battles occurring on faraway planets. (We did not, however, count Star Wars – go cry into your Wookiee dolls, nerds.) If you’ve ever been on the frontlines yourself, these movies will resonate. And if you haven’t, hopefully they give you some small measure of understanding for what those who have fought have been through. Written by David Fear, Keith Uhlich, Joshua Rothkopf, Andy Kryza, Phil de Semlyen and Matthew Singer Recommended: 🎖️ The best World War I movies💥 The 50 best World War II movies🪖 The 20 best Vietnam War movies – as ranked by a military historian🔥 The 100 best movies of all-time

As a parent, navigating your kid’s tweenage years is tough. No longer a kid but not yet a tornado of hormones, it’s a short-lived but awkward time that affects just about everything, up to and including movie nights. Where you happy little butterball could once be pleased with anything loud and colourful, now they’re getting more discerning. At the same time, they’re not so desperate to prove their maturity that they’re demanding a legal thriller or a Merchant Ivory costume drama. So how do you choose the right flick to please all audiences? Don’t freak out. We’re here to help. We’ve rounded up 36 movies that almost seem laser-guided to explode the pleasure centres of anyone between the ages of ten and 12. And the good news is that much of what works for that demographic is the same stuff you loved at the age, from ’80s blockbusters to silly comedies to adventure flicks to movies about young love and the struggle of growing up. Throw one of these on and you’ll be a hero, at least for one night.   Recommended: 🎒 The 100 best teen movies of all-time👪 The 50 best family films to stream on movie night🤣 The 35 best family comedy movies

When considering the best thrillers ever made, you’ll encounter many different kinds of thrills: from political intrigue and espionage to conspiracy, manipulation, gaslighting, and, of course, lots and lots of crime. As a movie genre, the thriller is also loosely defined – under its umbrella, you’ll find examples of science fiction, horror, heists, action, even comedy, along with the ever-nebulous ‘psychological thriller’ subdivision. The exact definition of a thriller may be hard to pin down, but you know one when you’re watching one. You’ll feel it, too – in your clammy palms and under your armpits, in your teeth as you grind down the enamel and your restless leg. When done right, a thriller prompts a visceral response more than just about any other genre. Here are a hundred great thrillers guaranteed to make you sit up, widen your eyes and leave your head spinning.  Written by Abbey Bender, Joshua Rothkopf, Yu An Su, Phil de Semlyen, Tom Huddleston, Andy Kryza, Tomris Laffly & Matthew Singer RECOMMENDED: 🕯️ The 35 steamiest erotic thrillers ever made😬 The best thriller movies on Netflix💰 The 60 most nerve-racking heist movies ever🧠 The greatest psychological thrillers ever made 

Like college kids and middle-aged divorcees flocking to the nearest beach or rooftop pool to reveal their revenge bods, summer is the time for Hollywood to show off. The movie industry is going into its most important time of year with some positive momentum, thanks to A Minecraft Movie, Sinners and Thunderbolts* , and the likely successes of Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning and Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch. And there’s reason to believe the money train will continue rolling, with James Gunn’s Superman rebooting the DC universe, Fantastic Four: First Steps looking to keep the Marvel revival moving and Jurassic World Rebirth bringing the dinosaur franchise back from extinction, with Scarlett Johannson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey in tow. Of course, nothing in this cinema landscape is guaranteed. Which films will actually hit big and which will have studio execs and industry watchers wringing their hands? We break it all down below with the 21 movies we’re most excited about in summer 2025.RECOMMENDED: 🎥 The best movies of 2025 (so far)🔥 The best TV and streaming shows of 2025

At this point, Wes Anderson needs no introduction, nor do many movie fans need to be convinced how to feel about his work. Either you find his delicate, immaculate world-building good enough to eat, or you react to his twee sensibilities with nausea. No matter where on the spectrum you fall, though, Anderson is one of the most distinctive filmmakers of his generation, if not all-time. With his twelfth feature, the ensemble spy comedy The Phoenician Scheme, ushering in the 2025 summer movie season, we’ve ranked his movies from worst to best – and despite his detractors’ claims, his films are different enough to distinguish between.   Recommended: 🎬 The best Quentin Tarantino movies, ranked 🔥 The 100 best movies of all-time

No matter how drastically the world changes, the experience of being a teenager is universal. It’s the most confusing time in anyone’s life, and that’s as true in 2025 as it was in 1925. It’s no wonder, then, that filmmakers continue mining their high school years for inspiration. While the so-called ‘teen movie’ arguably hit its peak in the ’80s with the work of John Hughes, movies exploring the trials, tribulations and emotional turbulence of adolescence have been huge since at least the 1950s, and remained omnipresent through the ’90s and up to today.  On this list of the best teen movies of all time, you’ll find raunchy comedies and big-hearted love stories, serious dramas and even some tales of horror – because after all, what’s more horrifying than high school? It stretches from Judy Garland musicals to James Dean, from the aforementioned Hughes classics to Jennifer Love Hewitt, Superbad and Booksmart. And while the cultural details may differ through each decade, the feelings – and raging hormones – remain the same. Recommended:  🤣 The 100 best comedy movies👾 The 50 best ’80s movies💿 The 50 best ’90s movies

Los Angeles is where movies are born, New York is the city often said to be a character all on its own, while Chicago is, well, the other place – America’s third largest metropolis by population. Its number of film productions may pale in comparison to the other two, but, to reference one of its favourite pastimes, it just might have the highest batting average of classics compared to forgotten flops. From gangster flicks to the teen romcoms of native son John Hughes, the Second City comes in third to nobody. Here are the 25 best Chicago ever made. Recommended: 🗽 The 101 best New York movies of all-time🌴 The best Los Angeles movies of all-time💂 The 32 best London movies

Who’s ready to laugh? Netflix, apparently, as its May 2025 slate is loaded with comedies, some involving heavy-hitters. The month kicks off with a Tina Fey limited series also starring Steve Carrell, Colman Domingo and Will Forte, then continues with a darkly comic thriller led by Julianne Moore, an apparently deranged anthology series from stand-up Tom Segura, Vince Vaughn playing opposite Lorraine Bracco and Susan Sarandon, and the final season of Nick Kroll’s long-running animated series, Big Mouth. If you’re more in the mood for drama, don’t worry, there’s plenty of that, too. Here are the nine new movies and shows that we’re most excited about hitting Netflix this month. Recommended: 💻 The best Netflix original series to binge📺 The best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far)   The Four Seasons Tina Fey remakes the 1981 Alan Alda comedy about three middle-aged couples whose friendship dynamic is rattled when one of them divorces. Fey, who also stars, frames the eight-episode miniseries around a series of group vacations, which sounds like her way of getting Netflix to fund some expensive getaways for her and her friends – but when the friends are Steve Carrell, Colman Domingo, Will Forte and Kerri Kenney-Silver, it’s probably still worth watching. Premieres May 1 Britain and the Blitz Just when you thought you’d consumed everything about the bombing of Britain during World War II comes this six-episode docuseries, featuring first-person testimony from survivors

Gentlemen, rev your Aston Martins and start shaking those martinis, because a new James Bond is on the horizon. Menthol smoke has not yet started billowing out of MGM Studios – the traditional indication that the next 007 has been chosen – with Daniel Craig’s likely replacement still a mystery. What does this mean for the future of the iconic British spy series and its upcoming 26th instalment? Information is limited, but here’s what we know so far.  What does Amazon MGM Studios’ takeover mean for the next James Bond? After months of rumour and speculation, James Bond finally got a new boss in February 2025. Not M, but Amazon MGM Studios who sealed a deal with 007’s producers, Eon’s Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson, to take creative control of the franchise.  Broccoli and Wilson will remain co-owners of James Bond but crucially, will step back from controlling the future direction or execution of the franchise. ‘With the conclusion of No Time to Die and Michael retiring from the films, I feel it is time to focus on my other projects,’ Broccoli said in a statement.So what does it all mean for 007? We’re probably a step closer to a release date for Bond 26 and the announcement of a new James Bond to star in it. Maybe a radical change of direction for the whole franchise, too, with immediate speculation that Amazon will look to spin their expensive new IP into the kind of shared universe storytelling that Disney pursued with Lucasfilm and Star Wars after its takeover. Is a

Mike White’s HBO sensation The White Lotus is back and not since Chevy Chase’s ’80s heyday have vacations gone wrong quite this spectacularly.Second 3 sees another party of unsuspecting but largely fairly deserving wealthies disembarking for a week or so of passive-aggression, skullduggery, and in the odd case, death. Friendships will fray, cobras will be unleashed and uptight westerners will unravel in the serene surrounds of a Thai resort. And we’ll all be there every step of the way. As with previous seasons the location is the story. This time White is taking us further east: to Thailand and a White Lotus resort where devices must be popped in a bag and the healing power of spiritual therapy allowed to do its thing. Season 1 took us to Hawaii, season 2 introduced the Sicilian White Lotus. Now it’s time for a tour of White Lotus Thailand and its ultra-luxe locations. Photograph: Fabio Lovino/HBO(Left to right) Christian Friedel, Carrie Coon, Michelle Monaghan, Leslie Bibb and Lek Patravadi in season 3 of ‘The White Lotus’ Where is White Lotus season 3 filmed? The third season takes its cast – Michelle Monaghan, Parker Posey, Carrie Coon, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Jason Isaacs, Cate Le Bon et al – to The White Lotus Resort in Thailand. According to Mike White, it was nearly set in another a couple of thousand miles to the east. ‘Originally, [Thailand] was kind of a stalking horse because I wanted to shoot in Japan,’ says the showrunner. ‘I've spent more time there and I jus

The devastating wildfires that have been sweeping through suburbs of Los Angeles since Tuesday continue to threaten life and livelihoods across the city—as well as inflicting enormous destruction of property.     In a city famous as a headquarters for film and TV production, the impact has been devastating, with celebrity enclaves like Malibu and Pacific Palisades hit especially hard by the blaze. Studios have been evacuated, and TV productions and award season events deferred. Here’s what it all means for the world of pop culture and moviemaking. 1. Are L.A.’s cinemas and studios threatened by the wildfires?  As the Sunset Fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday evening, the TCL Chinese Theatre—popularly known as Grauman’s Chinese Theatre—and the current home of the Oscars, the Dolby Theatre, were included in the evacuation zone. The blaze was largely extinguished overnight, however, and the evacuation warning lifted.   The L.A. premieres for Pamela Anderson’s award-nominated The Last Showgirl, Unstoppable, Wolf Man and the long-awaited second season of Apple TV+’s Severance were called off. Even a New York premiere—of Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz’s Netflix action-comedy Back in Action—was cancelled too. Meanwhile, popular studio attractions were also closed during the week, due to the proximity of the fires. Universal Studios closed its gates to the public on Wednesday, before reopening today. Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal CityWalk will be

Well, here we are. America has arrived at the moment of truth – the most important presidential election in our lifetime. Sure, they seem to say that about every election, but in this case, it’s probably true, given that democracy itself is seemingly hanging in the balance. Whether or not the results actually end up confirming the country’s slide into totalitarianism, it’s a big deal regardless.   Need to prepare yourself? These movies should help put things in perspective. Not all of them are about presidential politics per se, but they are focused on the democratic process and the machinations and maneuverings that accompany it. We’d like to say they’ll calm your inevitably frazzled nerves, but the truth is, if you’re making a movie about an election in the United States, it’s probably lined with a good bit of cynicism. But as you’ll see, cynicism can be a good thing, especially if you’re hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. Recommended: 🔥 The 100 best movies of all-time😬 The best thriller movies of all-time🤔 The 24 best movies based on true stories Photograph: Warner Bros. 1. All the President’s Men (1976) Ah, the days when committing crimes could actually bring down a presidency. Watergate was barely out of the headlines when Alan Pakula turned the most famous act of reportage in American political history into the greatest journalism procedural ever made. Embellishing little, Pakula sticks to the facts – and to the newsroom of The Washington Post – and

Horror, fittingly, is the unkillable genre. Just when you think it’s peaked – the exploitation-heavy ’70s, the slasher ’80s, the post-ironic ’90s – it gets a new leash of life and lurches back at you, claw hammer in hand. Like the transmogrifying alien in The Thing, there’s something in its bloodstream that keeps its scares relevant, keeps them reflecting our fears back at us in ways that are too damn frightening to resist. Halloween, however, requires a very specific kind of horror film: it’s a time when spooks and scares, ghosts and ghouls take precedence over subtext and smarts. With that, and the genre’s recent purple patch in mind, here’s a few films from the last year or two that will scare you witless this week and enhance that gothic vibe. (If you’ve got younger viewers in the house, give this more family-friendly list a go instead.) Our pick of the top Halloween movies for 2024 Photograph: A24 1. Heretic Hands up: who had Hugh Grant down as this year’s answer to the Jigsaw Killer? The erstwhile romcom softboi shows new, darker shades in a fiendishly clever horror-thriller with big ideas and even bigger shocks. It’s not Grant’s first villainous turn – hello, Daniel Cleaver and that cannibal in Cloud Atlas – but when his seemingly hospitable would-be convert lulls a pair of guileless Mormon missionaries into a hellish labyrinthine, it’s a ride you really don’t want to miss. In theaters now Photograph: Signature Entertainment 2. Terrifier 3 Who knew there was such

You’ve carved a pumpkin – looks great, top work – you’ve stocked up on candy and decked out the front porch like it’s the set of a Tim Burton movie. But there may be one variable still lingering over your Halloween: what to watch with the little ones? What’s needed is something that offers kids a frisson of spookiness and some gentle scares, but nothing that’s going to freak them out and require you to spend three hours sitting by their bedside reassuring them that Pazuzu isn’t real. Oh, and something that’s genuinely fun for grown-ups too. Here’s our pick of ten Halloween faves that hit that ghoulish sweet spot. (Oh, and grown-ups should head for this more R-rated list.) The top Halloween movies for kids Photograph: Disney 1. Coco (Disney+) Give your Halloween a celebratory vibe with an effervescent Pixar animation that sends its young musical hero into the afterlife for a race-against-the-clock adventure featuring skeletons as far as the eyeball can see. No culture does death with as much vibrancy and joy as Mexico, and this riff on the Day of the Dead celebrations is a suitably kaleidoscopic treatment of the great beyond. The actual Día de Muerto falls on Saturday, November 2, so what better time to cue it up? Photograph: Disney+Frankenweenie 2. Frankenweenie (Disney+) Nothing’s worse than the loss of a beloved family pet. Enter Tim Burton’s stop motion animation to raise the spooky possibility of reincarnating the little guy with the help of a massive electrical cha

On Netflix, movies and TV shows come and go almost daily. Sometimes, you may not even know something is there to stream before it’s too late. In other cases, you might be halfway through a series, or planning to watch a movie at the end of the week, and then poof: gone. Don’t get caught unaware. Below, you’ll find a full list of everything leaving Netflix in November 2024, with our six picks for the flicks you must watch before they cycle off, including Tom Hanks as a grumpy old man, Tom Cruise as a live-action video game character, Ryan Gosling as a real American hero, and Keanu Reeves as Johnny Utah. Get watching, and live without regret. Recommended: 🎬 The 35 best movies on Netflix right now🇳 The 44 best Netflix original series to binge🦚 The 20 best movies to watch on Peacock right now🎥 The 25 best movies on HBO and Max right now Photograph: Dennis Mong/Sony Pictures A Man Called Otto Tom Hanks plays against type as a gravelly-voiced old grouch who just wants to be left alone long enough to hang himself and join his wife in the afterlife. Of course, his meddling neighbours won’t allow that to happen, and the movie becomes just the sort of hard-to-resist heartstring-tugger you expect to see Tom Hanks in.  Leaves Nov 5   Photograph: Warner Bros."Edge of Tomorrow" Edge of Tomorrow ‘Starship Troopers meets Groundhog Day’ is the easiest pitch for this entertaining sci-fi blockbuster. Tom Cruise is a post-apocalyptic bureaucrat conscripted to fight against the alien hord

Sports are the pinnacle of human drama, and the Olympics are the peak of sporting events. Logically, then, movies about the Olympics are some of the most stirring, thrilling and plainly inspirational you’ll find. We’re not saying they’re the best sports movies necessarily – we’ve got a whole other list for that – but when it comes to whipping viewers into a patriotic froth, the best films about the global games do it better than almost anything else. Of course, there is a dark side to the Olympics, both socially and historically, as reflected in top-shelf movies like Munich and Foxcatcher. But for the sake of this list, and stoking excitement for the upcoming Paris games, we’re sticking with the thrilling, the soul-stirring and the inspirational movies to tackle the Olympics – in both their summer and snowier guises. Here are nine of our favourites. Recommended: ⚾ The 50 best sports movies of all-time🥊 The 10 best boxing movies of all-time📹 The 66 best documentaries of all-time Zátopek (2021) Every country has its Olympics heroes. In the Czech Republic it’s Emil Zátopek, a long-distance runner who defied the odds to win triple gold at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. As charted in this stirring and colourful biopic, Zátopek (Václav Neužil) had the kind of mischievous eccentricity and drive you probably need to run endlessly in giant loops – and a romantic spirit that manifests in a touching romance with Dana, a champion javelin thrower. Well worth, ahem, tracking do

Rejoice, film fans – August is over! The end of summer is famously regarded as an end-of-summer dumping ground for major studios, and this year seemed particularly dismal. But with September comes slightly cooler temperatures and definitively movies as award season begins in earnest. This month’s slate is light on blockbusters or marquee releases but contains several smaller affairs you may end up hearing about come Oscar time, including Celine Song’s quietly heartbreaking modern romance ‘Past Lives’, the intensely intimate ‘Passages’ and Pedro Almodovar’s Pedro Pascal-and-Ethan Hawke-starring ‘queer Western’, Strange ‘Way of Life’. And hey, if you just want to see Denzel Washington shoot some bad guys, there’s always ‘The Equalizer 3’!     Photograph: MUBI Passages A long-tenured French couple (Franz Rogowski and Ben Whishaw) have their relationship thrown into chaos when the former has an affair with a younger woman (Adèle Exarchopoulos) in this typically small-yet-intense drama from director Ira Sachs. Having previously set his films in New York, Sachs utilises the Parisian backdrop to such a degree it becomes a character unto itself.  In cinemas Sep 1  Foto: Cortesía Konnichiwa Festival The First Slam Dunk Basketball anime style, Takehiko Inoue’s adaptation of his own mega-selling manga series ‘Slam Dunk’ is 20 years in the making and currently smashing box-office records in Japan and South Korea. It arrives on these shores as the fifth highest grossing anime e

Already a smash hit in the US, all eight episodes of ‘The Bear’ have finally arrived on Disney+ in the UK and Ireland. The FX dramedy, set in the kitchen of a blue-collar Chicago sandwich shop and starring the about-to-be-huge Jeremy Allen White, has generated a tonne of buzz since its first dropped on Hulu across the Pond.Created by Christopher Storer, it centres on an up-and-coming chef who inherits his family’s struggling greasy spoon following the sudden death of his brother. It’s earned critical raves for its breakout cast and sharply observed writing, which manages to convey a lot about grief and masculinity despite dealing with some not particularly articulate characters. And it’s already been renewed for a second season. So if you want to keep up with the zeitgeist, you’ll probably want to jump in as soon as it lands on the streamer. And if you’re wondering if it’s worth the four-hour investment, here are the five best reasons to watch. Photograph: Matt Dinerstein/FXWhite with Liza Colon-Zayas as Tina 1. Jeremy Allen White is basically a young Nicolas Cage First and foremost, ‘The Bear’ heralds the arrival of Jeremy Allen White. Okay, perhaps that’s a weird thing to say, given that he just wrapped up a ten-year stint as a lead on the US version of Shameless. But in his first true star vehicle, White shines as Carmen ‘Carmy’ Bezatto, aka Bear, a hot-shit young chef with hypnotic eyes and a wounded demeanour. White spent two weeks in culinary school to prepare for the

Damien Chazelle is returning to La La Land… But the director’s new movie is about a much different Los Angeles than that of his 2016 musical. In his upcoming Babylon, the 37-year-old filmmaker travels back to the Golden Age of Hollywood, a particularly grand and debauched time in the entertainment industry. It’s Chazelle’s first movie since 2018’s Neil Armstrong biopic First Man and the first he’s written since La La Land made him the youngest Best Director winner in Oscar history. And according to Chazelle, it’s his most ambitious project yet. ‘It was definitely the hardest thing I’ve done,’ he tells Vanity Fair. ‘Just the logistics of it, the number of characters, the scale of the set pieces, the span of time that the movie charts – it all conspired to make it particularly challenging, but it was a challenge that was pretty exciting to take on.’ Chazelle says he’s had the idea for Babylon in his head since even before his breakthrough film, 2014’s Whiplash, but didn’t yet have the clout to do something so ‘massive’. He finally started working on the script in 2018, but then the pandemic stalled production. After screening teaser footage for a convention audience earlier this year, Babylon is finally nearing release – and it looks like another Oscar contender. Here’s everything we know about Babylon.   Photo Credit: Scott Garfield| Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy in Babylon from Paramount Pictures. When does Babylon come out? It hits theatres in select US cities on Decemb